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Mark Rosewater stated in his "Rabiah Scale" that a return to Theros was likely, so I would like to speculate about a return to that plane would entail.

First, in terms of the story, there are three major unresolved plotlines on Theros of which I am aware. First, Dack Fayden arrived on Theros in a comic book, and entered Nyx, either intentionally or accidentally, I am not certain. I believe that it is safe to presume that he shall encounter Elspeth there, and possibly rescue her, but I wonder if she shall still possess her original identity and abilities, including her planeswalker spark. Second, The inhabitants of Theros are losing their faith in the deities, so that may affect their power, so the deities will obviously be attempting to keep their followers. Third, Gideon may wish to return there, since that plane is his home plane, and he has not revisited it in many years.

Second, in terms of mechanics, I believe that both devotion and monstrous are likely to return, because of how versatile they are, but heroic is less likely, because it was simply not as exciting or versatile as the other two mechanics were. I am certain that enchantments will again have a major focus, but I am not certain if enchantment creatures will return.

What does everyone else say about this? What ideas do you have about a return to Theros?

I think Enchantment Creatures and Enchantment focus are going to return in any return to theros, no questions about that. That's what makes theros THEROS

I believe the plot would be Dack on Theros trying to find Ashiok as in the comic, but then the jacetice league/gatewatch show up and ruin the set because that's what magic does now.

Maybe since Ajani is part of the gatewatch, they will try to bargain with Erebos/Athreos/Ravos from C16 to get back Elspeth's soul. I would love to see the gods fall out of favor and lose all their power, letting the dead cross the rivers, haha that'd be great.

Actually, I think that Ravos, Soultender might be a big character, too. From his lore on WOTC home page, it says that "Ravos plots her rescue and secretly defies Athreos by escorting his wards back to the land of the living," her being his lover.

Ok, my new theory. Dack is on theros trying to find Athreos because of the nightmare thing. Ajani's like, hey, i helped you with bolas on Amonkhet, you help me get my friend back from the dead, so they go to theros. There, they learn about Ashiok, blah blah blah, Gateatch to the rescue etc. OATH OF DACK FAYDEN MOFOS!!!!! Then Ajani's like, hey we came here for Elspeth, so he tries to bargain with Athreos/Erebos, but maybe the gods have lost power and favor with the people, so they can't help him/won't help him. So he finds Ravos, Soultender and the gatewatch rescue both Elspeth and Ravos's lover from the underworld, Anger of the Gods, the end.

January 5, 2017
8:40 p.m.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Erebos ends up revolting against Heliod, championed by Elspeth. The mortals are in chaos thanks to the pantheon dividing and the Returned going rampant. The Gatewatch catch wind of how bad it's getting and at least Gideon and Ajani investigate.

January 5, 2017
9:14 p.m.

I really hope that the Gatewatch have minimal to no involvement in a return to Theros, because they have now been involved in three consecutive blocks, which seems far too similar to what happens in One Piece, in which the Strawhat Pirates travel from one island to the next, becoming involved in that island's business before going to the next island. Having main characters in a story is acceptable and expected, but having the entire multiverse revolve around those characters is definitely not a good thing (Star Wars and The Wheel of Time are allowed to do that, because there are in-universe explanations for that phenomenon; the force and Ta'veren, respectively, but M:tG has no such equivalent, so I severely dislike how the Gatewatch just happens to be involved in ever major recent event in the multiverse).

January 5, 2017
9:26 p.m.

I would expect Constellation to return, but with the gods waning influence it would be interesting to see how Wizards continues the enchantment theme that Theros is now tied to. Heroic kind of fit that because it helped with the inherent card disadvantage Auras have built in.

Devotion would probably go away. I think that's one of the parts of the block that people remember most. Gary and his MBD squad...

As far as story lines go, wishing the gatewatch away doesn't mean they'll be away. Gideon has loose ends there, so does Ajani. Ashiok and Dack Fayden seem like obvious inclusions, so that leaves one maybe two slots left for walkers. I would assume some combination of for their color identities, so pick somebody.

January 6, 2017
11:08 a.m.

@DemonDragonJ there kind of IS a reason that they're the center of every world. Most of the major conflicts of the last 3 worlds started because of them. Eldrazi on Zendikar? because of them. Eldrazi on Innistrad? Partially on them. Rebellion started in Kaladesh? Partially on them. It's not exactly surprising that they're the focal points of the story seeing as they're usually the instigators :P

@RazortoothMtg I don't understand how having a core group of characters ruins the set.

January 6, 2017
11:56 a.m.

Nemesis, I have no problem with a central cast of characters, but I would like for the story to focus on characters outside of the central cast, as well. When planeswalkers were introduced as a card type, I feared that they would overshadow legendary creatures and non-planeswalker characters, and, now that the Gatewatch exists, I fear that they shall overshadow even other planeswalkers.

January 6, 2017
3:33 p.m.

DemonDragonJ while that's a valid concern, if you look at the last Innistrad block, you'll see that even though there is a central cast, much of the attention wasn't on them, but on Sorin, Nahiri, & Avacyn. And that was just one set ago

January 6, 2017
6:56 p.m.

Nemesis: I'm just one of the gatewatch haters. Not only do I not like how they turned into kind of the justice league of the multiverse, but also just dont like some of the characters, like Nissa a Gideon i've never really liked.

January 7, 2017
12:12 p.m.

January 17, 2017
6:02 p.m.

Milester856, I doubt that WotC would want to follow such a predictable pattern as that, so I am certain that whether a future block will be set on a new plane or an existing plane will be determined randomly.

January 18, 2017
5:20 p.m.

I don't believe we will be getting a Return to Theros until after a Return to New Phyrexia set. I don't think that we will be getting 2 atrifact sets in Standard, though, so those 2 will be on the backburner for a while. With Amonkhet including "Gods," we might not see Theros or New Phyrexia for a while. Maybe NP after the Return set after Amonkhet, but not while Kaladesh is in Standard. In all honesty, I think the next plane we will see after Amonkhet is Vryn or Alara. Alara is kind of self explanatory, with Bolas and Tezzy around, they might retreat there, if beaten by the Gatewatch. But I don't think that is going to happen. I think that the Gatewatch are going to get their butts handed to them on a silver platter by Bolas, and Bolas is going to mess with Jace's memory. He'll remember something about his past, and seek out Vryn, ALONE. He'll end up there and have an existential crisis, and then seek out Alhammaret. Hijinks ensue. Basically, I think the set after Amonkhet is gonna be about Jace on Vryn. Maybe even making his way up the Mage Rings, who knows.

February 22, 2017
9:14 p.m.

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